Princesses
Two-year-old girls often want to be princesses after watching movies and hearing fairy tales about kingdoms, adventures, and royal families, and some two-year-old boys will be interested in princesses as well. These activities for princess-loving children focus on exploring through imagination, which is constructive because otherwise princess lovers may watch too many videos if they don't find a way to engage that interest.
Get a large box, such as the kind a refrigerator or another appliance comes in. Cut the top of the box into the shape of a castle tower by cutting small squares out of the top to create a crenelation. You can also cut a door on one side. This can be your princess' castle. You can also tape a bunch of open boxes together to make a larger castle.
If you have an old, flowing skirt, let your two-year-old wear that, or simply tuck some scarves into her tights or pants so that she has a flouncy skirt. Then make a crown out of construction paper. Covering a paper-towel roll in tin foil makes a scepter. Let your child wear a pair of your shoes.
You can easily make up princess stories that are sure to entertain your two-year old. The basic princess story can be adapted to all kinds of situations and can incorporate any number of challenges to keep your child interested. You can model your story on this order of events: A girl is born a princess, something difficult happens (typically her mother dies and she inherits an evil stepmother, but you can think of something less Freudian, such as being afraid to swim across the moat or losing her crown), the princess tries to overcome the difficulty but fails, something difficult happens again, the princess tries to overcome the difficulty, and almost overcomes it, the princess has to try harder, and finally she succeeds. The success does not have to involve being rescued by a prince. For a great story about a princess who recognizes her true value — and the worthlessness of a superficial prince — read
